Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday sent a message of condolences to Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez over the strong earthquakes that rocked the country.
Xi said that China stands ready to provide assistance to Venezuela in disaster relief and reconstruction.
The number of people killed in two Venezuelan earthquakes rose to 589, with 2,980 injured, acting President Delcy Rodriguez said, according to BBC. The second quake was Venezuela’s “most powerful in more than a century,” CNN reported.
At a regular press conference on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that the Chinese government and the Red Cross Society of China will provide emergency humanitarian aid to Venezuela for quake relief respectively. We stand ready to offer more support as the disaster response progresses, he said.
Guo said that in the wake of the earthquakes, which caused massive casualties and economic loss in Venezuela, the Chinese government has expressed sympathies to the Venezuelan government and people, and the Venezuelan government has thanked China for this.
“Sadly, two Chinese nationals have died in the earthquakes, according to verified information as of today. The Chinese embassy in Venezuela is doing all it can to verify the safety of Chinese nationals in the quake zone and will actively provide necessary assistance. We advise Chinese nationals in Venezuela to exercise caution against possible secondary quake hazards,” Guo told the press conference.
Beyond the humanitarian aid delivered by the Chinese government and the Red Cross Society of China, a wide array of Chinese organizations, including Chinese-funded institutions and local Chinese community organizations, as well as ordinary overseas Chinese nationals have joined the disaster relief effort.
Such broad participation reflects China’s steadfast and substantial backing for Venezuela as a responsible major developing nation, and bears witness to the sincere friendship shared between the peoples of China and Venezuela, analysts said.
Joint rescue efforts
Beyond Venezuela’s own rescue teams racing against time to save lives, the UN said at least 17 countries are sending personnel to the country to assist in survivor searches.
Among the multi-sector Chinese relief actors that banded together to carry out rescue operations, Chinese-funded institutions bore the work of tearing down shaky elevated building frameworks and clearing piles of collapsed debris.
According to CCTV News on Friday, under the coordination of the Chinese Embassy in Venezuela, rescue personnel from several Chinese-funded institutions arrived at the site after a residential building in the capital suffered a partial structural collapse following the earthquakes, leaving its steel framework and exterior facade severely damaged and posing a risk of further collapse.
The Chinese institution teams worked in coordination, with one group hoisting and dismantling suspended steel stairs and large metal frames, while another inspected the damaged building for potential safety hazards, CCTV News said.
Venezuelan emergency authorities also took part in the joint operation, helping to evacuate nearby residents and enforce safety controls. Rescue work is being carried out in shifts and will continue until all high-risk structures are removed, according to the report.
The federation of Chinese associations in Venezuela mobilized local overseas Chinese early Thursday to source vital gear including generators and heavy-duty cutters upon receiving the alerts from La Guaira state, one of the quake’s hardest-hit areas. After handing the equipment over to local rescuers, the team successfully rescued a young girl originally from Enping, Jiangmen, in South China’s Guangdong Province, chinaqw.com reported.
Sun Yanfeng, director of Latin American research at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said China’s humanitarian aid to Venezuela stands as solid, substantial backing for the country, especially amid its current limited national capacity to respond to the earthquake and carry out post-disaster reconstruction. “It also showcases the commitment and sense of responsibility China upholds as a major developing country, and bears witness to Beijing’s resolve to honor its pledges,” Sun told the Global Times on Friday.
Chinese-funded enterprises stepping up to join rescue efforts demonstrates their commitment to corporate social responsibility, while Venezuela’s overseas Chinese, who share warm and harmonious bonds with local people, also offer heartfelt disaster support, which is beneficial for deepening people-to-people connectivity ties between China and Venezuela, Sun said.
Strongest quake in a century
In addition to China’s aid, international aid is also heading to Venezuela after the deadly earthquake. According to Reuters, the UN humanitarian affairs body said 25 international teams had been mobilized with a total of 1,000 personnel. “The coming days will require a massive collective effort to support the government-led response and help communities,” said aid chief Tom Fletcher.
The first batch of humanitarian supplies is leaving the International Federation of the Red Cross’s (IFRC) regional humanitarian hub in Panama on Friday. “The cargo includes kitchen sets, hygiene kits, mosquito nets, and other essential items,” said Loyce Pace, the Americas regional director for the IFRC, the Guardian reported.
According to BBC, the quakes, with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, hit a minute apart on Wednesday night, and the second was the strongest to hit Venezuela since 1900. The so-called doublet sequence of earthquakes is different to the typical scenario, where a larger quake is followed by much smaller aftershocks, according to the report.
The number of dead and injured is expected to rise with thousands reported missing, the AP said.
Tong, a Chinese national in Venezuela, recounted the experience of the quakes, and shared with the Global Times that the quake began with mild shaking before quickly intensifying. “I tried to go downstairs but could barely stand amid the strong tremors. I took shelter beside a sofa against the wall in a structurally stable area and moved to an open outdoor space once the shaking eased. It was horrible,” Tong said.
Xu Xiwei, a professor from the Beijing-based China University of Geosciences, told the Global Times on Friday that Venezuela is prone to powerful destructive earthquakes, as it sits on the northern edge of the South American tectonic plate, right next to the Caribbean plate. The zone where these two plates meet has many active fault lines that easily trigger earthquakes.
Xu noted that these two successive quakes were powerful with long fault ruptures. That means buildings were shaken for a much longer time, leading to severe damage. The bends and breaks along the same fault structure caused these two strong earthquakes to strike one after another.
